So why are so many Florida homeowners still using these outdated, inefficient lights?

Well, it most likely comes down to habit or the belief that incandescent lighting isn’t really that much more expensive than other bulbs, like LEDs. So we’ve decided to take matters into our own hands and take a look at whether this is accurate or not.

Are incandescents really that much more expensive?

To answer this question, let’s look at a hypothetical example…

Let’s say Homeowner A decides to use incandescent lights for his holiday decorations. His neighbor, Homeowner B, is using LEDs for his decorating.

They both use the same amount of lights and both turn them on at 7pm and turn them off at 7am (12 hours a day) for 30 days. Using Sarasota’s cost of electricity at 10.4 cents per kWh, let’s take a look at how much they’ll end up spending:

Bottom line: If you’re planning to keep your incandescent Christmas lights, you’ll pay an energy bill that’s over 6 times higher than if you were to use LED lights.

The cheaper alternative? LED lights

But that’s not the only reason to make the switch from incandescents to LEDs. LEDs also have a much longer lifespan than incandescent lights:

Average incandescent bulb lifespan: 1,000 hours

Average LED bulb lifespan: 25,000 hours

So if you’re using incandescent bulbs this holiday season, not only will you have to pay a lot more in energy bills but you’ll also have to pay to replace your bulbs every year or so. Whereas, a homeowner using LED bulbs can use their holiday lights for decades before having to replace them.